James e



J. E. BOYLE.

WATER CLOSET.

' (No Model No, 255,485. Patented Mar. 28,1882.

lNVENTOR:

'WlTNESSESi By his Attorneys,

N, milys, Phoiolithogrmphar. Wahington, D4 I;

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES E. BOYLE, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

WATER-CLOSET.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 255,485, dated March 28, 1882.

Application filcd August 5, 1881. (No model.)

7 To all whom it may concern:

. Water-surface closets, or those in which the soil is deposited into a receptacle containing water.

Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings is a vertical mid-section of my improved closet and A the apparatus pertaining thereto, viewed from r gas from the soil-pipe into the 'bowl.

the front; and Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the closet alone.

A is the bowl. to is the exit-aperture thereof,

and Bis the soil pipe or passage leading therefrom. This pipe or passage curves upward from the orifice a, forming thereby a trap, O, of which the bowl A forms one leg, and which consequently acts to retain the water in the bowl, and also prevents any escape of sewer- From the trap G the pipe or passage B extends downward, and is there formed into another trap, D, from-which the soil-pipe 1) leads to the sewer in the usual manner. A pipe, f, leads from just below the trap D to the open air, at the roof or elsewhere, to give free vent to gases rising through the pipe bin the usual manner. Between the traps G and D is a confined airspace, d,from which leads a suction-pipe or airpipe, 0.,

Above the bowl, and near the ceiling of the room, is placed a tank, E, which in the main is of the ordinary construction. This tank is fed from the service-pipe of the building through a self-closing float-valve or ball-cock, whereby a nearly uniform level is at all times secured. This cock is not shown in the drawings, being well known. A chamber, F, which serves both as a flushing and suction chamber, is formed in the tank E by means of a bulk-head or partition, as shown, or it may be a separatevessel from the tank. The suction-pipe e enters this chamber and opens at its top above the highest water-level in the tank. From the chamber F a pipe, f, leads to the roof or into achimney, or otherwise communicates with the open air in any known way. The pipef is preferably a branch of this air-pipe. A checkvalve, g, is interposed between the pipefandthe chamber F. This valve may be of the usual construction, so as to freely permit the ascent of gases, but prevent their descent into the chamber; but I prefer to employ the spe cial construction shown, which I will hereinafter describe.

From the chamber F a flushing-pipe, 1, leads "to the flushing-rim kot'thebowl A. Two valves are provided, an inlet-valve, as at h, to control the admission of water from the tank E to the chamber F, and an outlet-valve, as atj, to control the discharge from the chamber into the pipe I, both being operated through a weighted lever, as p, from below-say froma pull or by other means-so that when either is open the other must be closed. 7

So far as already described there is no substantial novelty in this closet, nearly the same construction beingembodied in English Patent No.1,.207 ot1874. My apparatus differs from that in the following-described respects: The check-valve gopens directly into the chamber F, (instead otin'to abend in the pipe 0, asin the English patent,)' and from it a tube, g, extends down into the lower portion of the chamber,

its lower end opening thereinto and its upper end opening above the valve. fixed to the valve, should be light, thatit may not interfere with the lifting of the valve; but it is only essential that its upper end have ultimate communication with the atmosphere.

The valves h andj, I have shown as working jects below and incloses the upturned valveseat a and terminates slightly above the bottom of the chamber. The no'rmal water-level in the chamber is determined by the height of the valve-seat i, and as the pipe it extends below that level its bottom edge is immersed in the water, thus sealing it and preventing any This tube, if

escape of air from the chamberF into the room.

The valves 9' and h are the ordinary waste-pro venting tank-valves used with hopper-closets from time immemorial. Their stems extend upward and bear nuts or adjustable collars, which in operation are engaged by opposite arms of a weighted lever, 19. When this lever is at mid-stroke or in a horizontal position both valves are seated; but when it is tiltedin either direction one of the valves is raised or unseated. Its shaft or fulcrum-arm bears an arm, p, (shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1,) which projects on the opposite side of the fulcrum from the weight, and a wire or chain,q, (also shown in' dotted lines,) extends downward, and is connected to the hinged seat of the closet (not shown) in the well-known manner. The weight on lever 12 normally keeps the valvej unseated and the water-closet seat lifted slightly.

The operation of my closet is as follows: The drawings show the normal condition and position ofthe parts, or that assumed when not in use. The chamber F is filled with air above the level of the valve-seat i. The service-box G and flushing-pipe lare empty of water. When the water closet seatis depressed by the weight of the user the lever is pulled down by the wire q, thereby dropping the valve jonto its seat and immediately afterward lifting the valve h. While the partsare in these positions the water from the tank E flows through the seat of the valve it into the chamber F, in which it rises to the same level as in the tank, while the air in the chamber passes the valve 9 and escapes through the pipef. While the water-level in the chamber is below the bottom of the air-tube g the air escapes through that tube; but after the water rises above and seals its end the escaping air must lift the valve g. When the user rises from the seat the working parts all return to the position shown, whereupon the water in the chamber Frushesout through the opening i into the service-box G, whosecapacityequals or exceeds that of the bowl A from the dotted line a: up to the normal water-level, (see Fig. 1,) quickly fills this box, and proceeds to descend through the pipe I. The rapid fall of water from the chamber F creates a partial vacuum therein, which causes a strong suction in the pipe e, thereby drawing the water from the trap G, causing it to fall over into the trap D, and lowering the water-level in the bowl to the line as, whereupon the vacuum is broken by the entrance of air from the bowl into the air-space d. This indraft of air from the bowl insures the drawing from the room of all, or nearly all, the foul odors resulting from the use of the closet. This operation is completed and may be repeated once or oftener (according to the proportionin g of the several parts) betore the flushing-water descending through the pipe 1 reaches the bowl, whereupon the latter is refilled, and before the waterlevel in the chamberF descends to the bottom of the tube 9, or near enough thereto to prevent the entrance of air through said tube to break the vacuum in the chamber. Prior to the vacuum being so broken the water is somewhat retarded in its flow from the chamber F by the suction behind it; but after unsealing the bottom of the tube g the admission of air through that tube sets free the remaining water, causing a full downward flow through the pipe 7, thereby filling the bowl above its normal water-level and causing a forcible current outward through the trap (J. As the flushing-water is several times the volume of the water in the bowl and trap C, that water, with the excrement and paper held in it, is all forced beyond the trap C, and its place is taken by fresh clean water.

The service-box G and its air-pipe m serve much the same purpose as the air-tube g in retarding the flow of water at first and after ward freeing and accelerating it, and may be used in connection with the air-tube, as shown, or as a partial substitute therefor in case of its omission.

The most important and essential feature of novelty'in my closet is the means I have provided for securing a thorough and abundant after-wash, the flushing-water being freed from the retarding influence of the'partial vacuum above it as soon as that vacuum has.

done its work of siphoning the bowl, instead ofleaving the vacuum unbroken, as heretofore, so that the contents of the bowl will be siphoned out nearly as fastas they are supplieda defect which my invention entirely remedies.

By my arrangement of the valves hj, in con nection with the seat, the chamber F is normally empty of water, so that any sewer-gas which may possibly pass the trap D will have free escape through the pipe a, valve 9, and pipe f, and in case of any suction in the sewer-pipe air may freely enter through the pipes g or n and pass down through thepipe e; and there is also no possibility of excrement being left in the bowl through forgetfulness, as in the use of closets operated by a pullhandle. In case of suddenly dashing a pail of water or slops into the bowl A, any extra pressure in the space at thereby caused would be relieved by an escape of air through the tube g or valve g.

I form the bowl A and traps G and D allin one piece of earthenware and in order to bring both traps above the floor and save cutting into the latter, and to avoid raising the seat above its proper height, I have devised the relative arrangement of traps shown. The trap O, of which the bowl A forms one leg, extends to one side of the bowl, and its other leg extends upward close alongside the bowl.

From this leg the receiving-leg ot' the trap D- extends down to the floor, and its other leg extends thence laterally and upwardly close under the trap O and bowl A, and (in order to carry it to the necessary height) beyond the center of the bowl, whence the passage curves back underneath it and terminates at the floor, directly under the center of the bowl by prefereuce, so that my closet can be substituted for the usual pan and other closets without altering the wood-work or moving the soil-pipe b. Thus it will be seen that instead of placing the belly or lowest part of the trap didirectly over the crown or highest part of the trap D, as heretofore, the belly of the trap C is arranged to depend into the space between the two legs of the trap D, and the crown of the latter is arranged to one side of the belly of the former, thus rendering the closet much more compactvertically.

My invention is susceptible of considerable formal or structural modification without departing from its essential features. If an automatic closet is not desired, the lcverp may be arranged with the weight on the opposite arm, so as to stand normally in the position opposite to that shown, and be so arraugedin connection with a pull-handle as to be tilted .trap, a second trap below the first, an exhaust-pipe leading from the air-space between the two traps and terminating near the top 'of a flushing-chamber, the said chamber provided with inlet and outlet valves, and a flushing-pipe leading from the outlet-valve thereof to the how], all in combination, with suitable means, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, for preventing further retardation of the flow of flushing-water after the bowl has been siphoned by the partial vacuum formed by the descent of waterin the flushing-chamber, thereby augmenting the after-wash and insuring the final filling of the bowl.

2. A water-closet bowl formed as one leg of a trap, a second trap below the first, an exhaust-pipe leading from the air-space between the two traps to the upper part of a flushingchamber, the said chamber provided with inlet and outlet valves,and a flushing-pipe leading from the outlet-valve thereof to the how], all in combination, with suitable means, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, for automatically breaking the vacuum in said chamber when the water-level therein has descended to a predetermined point.

3. A water-closet bowl formed as one leg ofa trap, a second trap below the first, an exhaust-pipe leading from the air-space between the two traps to the upper part of a flushingchamber, the said chamber provided with inlet and outlet valves, and afiushing-pipe leading from the outlet-valve thereof to the bowl, all in combination with an air-pipe entering said flushing-chamber and opening therein in the lower portion thereof, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

height, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination of bowl A, traps (Jand D, air-space d, pipe 0, chamber F, pipe a, depending into said chamber, valve-seat 1', projecting up inside the pipe a, valve j, normally unseated, pipe 1, leading from said seat t to the bowl A, a normallyclosed inlet-valve for the chamber F, and means for opening said inlet-valve and closing the valve j upon the depression of the water-closet seat, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

6. The combination of bowl A, traps G and D, air-space d, pipe 6, chamber F, inlet and outlet valves therefor, service-box G, into which said outlet-valve opens, air-pipe m, and flushing-pipe I, substantially as set forth.

7. The combination of bowl A and traps U and D, molded in one piece, with the belly of the trap 0 arranged to depend between the two legs of the trap D, and the crown of the latter arranged to one side of the belly of the trap O and close underneath the bowl A, substant'ially as set forth.

- In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

' J. E. BOYLE.

Witnesses:

ARTHUR O. FRASER, HENRY CONNETT. 

